Reviewed by Kai Horsthemke
 
‘Those Days’ is Austrian-born and -educated Bernhard Lackner’s debut album, co-produced by his New York bass teacher Adam Nitti. The opening cut, ‘Italojazzer’, features Flecktones tenor saxophonist Jeff Coffin, the only name here I am familiar with. It is a moderately-up fusion piece, with nice additional solo turns from Blair Masters on synth and Lackner himself, trading eights with Coffin. ‘We try to fly’ has a round, ‘pocket’ bass groove. Lackner and drummer Derico Watson work well together throughout, and the bassist delivers an upper-register solo that gets to the point without having to draw on any slap-&-pop histrionics. Scott Bernard is on guitar here, as on the next track, ‘It’s time to go’, Lackner’s nimble-fingered meditation on the perceived necessity of departure. ‘You never know’ seems like a narrative continuation of the previous track, Lackner and Watson again locking in pleasingly, before the tune turns hip-hop and is all but phukked up by a perfunctory rap (‘Yo! Check it out!’ etc.) by the implausibly monikered Earthworm Jim. ‘Why?’ appears to be a legitimate question here. Fortunately, it doesn’t take up too much time, and the tune soon returns to its opening groove. ‘Four Winds Drive’ is a solo bass vignette that is all mood and musical narrative. Again, the bassist’s restraint is a welcome defining characteristic. ‘It’s our world’ offers an indication that Lackner is not averse to using his thumb. Guitarist Bernard shines, as does Lackner himself, in 5-string thumb-funk and 6-string upper register alternating solo turns. ‘Song for you’ is a vehicle for Coffin and Masters, a pleasant ballad. The title tune concludes this refreshingly non-egotistical collection of predominantly medium-tempo ensemble pieces, with nice workouts by the keyboardist, guitarist and bassist, who rides out a set that, while perhaps short on sonic surprises and musical innovation, nonetheless contains enough to please the discerning ear.
‘Great Moments’ by Finnish bass virtuoso Jan-Olof Strandberg is a collection of 16 ‘moments’, or snapshots, that feature Strandberg on 4-, 5-, 6-string, fretted, fretless and piccolo bass guitars. Featured guests include Pepe Ahlqvist (check out his riveting harmonica solo on ‘In the shadow of the great’), guitarist Sami Virtanen (with superb contributions to ‘Undercover’, ‘T.D.’ and ‘Before the storm’), and Armand Sabal-Lecco on tenor bass (on the title track). ‘Rollercoaster’ and ‘To the rollercoaster’ offer suitably frenetic rides, with Strandberg on fretted and fretless basses steering proceedings. ‘Stanley & Sofi’ is a tribute to Stanley and Sofi Clarke, gentle but nevertheless technically demanding. ‘Before the storm’ carries all the foreboding suggested by the title, with the bassist creating rumbles and distant lightning flashes in strummed and slap-popped flurries. ‘Hey baby where are you now’ has a cute melody, appropriate for the title (or vice versa?). In conclusion: This is a hugely impressive set of crisp, articulate recordings, full of technical wizardry and instrumental prowess, but – for someone like me, who isn’t overly enamoured with thumb-funk gymnastics – also strangely unmoving. In this last regard, I strongly recommend investigating the bassist’s album ‘Illustrations’.